Second World

Jack spent another minute resting and cooling down his tense nerves. Then he gathered up the loot. He won a total of 17 silver and 35 copper coins, three common pieces of equipment that he had no use for and planned to dismantle, eight scales which were uncommon material, and 53 Lizardman's Scale trophy items.     

Even these loots were already rewarding, he couldn't wait to get his hands on the treasure trove from clearing the settlement.     

After storing the hefty loot, Jack walked back to the encampment. When he arrived back there, he saw the encampment was not totally deserted. A tall Lizardman in battle armor, holding a sizeable two-handed tomahawk axe, stood outside the encampment, looking around.     

When it saw Jack, it let out a deafening roar. It was utterly enraged that Jack had destroyed its minions. Unintimidated, Jack used his God-eye monocle to inspect the monster.     

Lizardman Chief (Elite boss, Reptile), level 15     

HP: 7200     

'An Elite boss, not a Special Elite, and the same level as him. Should be manageable,' Jack thought, heaving a sigh of relief. After all, he had fought against an elite level 20 Boss, albeit with a large party. A level 15 elite should be just right for him with his dual-class attribute advantage.     

He was about to meet the Boss in combat when he saw another two figures appear not far behind the Boss.     

These two Lizardmen were not wearing armor, but they were also not naked like the other Lizardmen. They wore some kind of ceremonial garment. One of them was wielding a bow, while the other was holding a wooden staff.     

Lizardman Guard Archer (Elite monster, Reptile), level 13     

HP: 3100     

Lizardman Guard Shaman (Elite monster, Reptile), level 13     

HP: 2800     

"I knew it's been too easy," Jack mumbled to himself as he stared at the trio of Lizardmen, one melee and two ranged types. "The hard part is always saved for last."     

"Good luck," Peniel said. She flew to the top of one of the wooden huts in the encampment and sat down to watch with a relaxed pose.     

Jack was speechless at the Fairy's actions. He liked it better when she was just staying inside her hidden dimension.     

The Lizardman Chief said some weird words to the other two Lizardmen, who then fanned out while staying at a distance. The Chief walked forward with an intimidating posture while uttering some words to Jack.     

"You do know that I don't have any idea what you are saying, right?" Jack said to the Lizardman Chief, who seemed to understand Jack's words. It uttered a low growl before opening its maw and roaring thunderously.     

The roar sent a shockwave through Jack's body.     

'Shit! Can this roar cause a status effect like the Horned Ogre Boss's could?' Jack thought with alarm.     

But to his relief, he didn't hear any notification about a status effect. But the Lizardman Chief's eyes and the other two Lizardman's eyes began to glow with red light.     

'Uh-oh, it seems this roar is the reverse of the Horned Ogre boss' version. It did not create a negative status effect on me, but gave positive buffs to itself and its allies.'     

The Lizardman Archer struck first, shooting an arrow at Jack. Jack hurriedly summoned his Magic Shield to block it. The arrow broke into two when it hit the shield. The Lizardman Shaman seemed to be chanting something, but Jack didn't have the luxury to pay attention to it as the Lizardman Chief made a giant leap towards him.     

The leap completely defied the law of gravity as its large frame traveled three meters up and almost six meters forward. It swung its huge tomahawk down at Jack's head.     

Jack immediately jumped to the side. The axe chopped down and created a long crack on the hard ground. Jack rolled on the ground to distance himself from the Lizardman Chief. When he stood up, he found the land he stood on was cracking; several thick vines shot up from the cracks. Jack felt something was wrong and jumped back, but the vines changed direction and wrapped themselves around his legs.     

Jack was immobilized; the vines held onto his legs tightly. He saw the Shaman was pointing its staff at him; the vines were that Shaman's doing.     

The Lizardman Chief pressed their advantage, denying Jack of any reprieve. It ran forward with heavy steps.     

Jack used his sword to chop at the vines. His sharp blade cut through the vines easily. However, new vines grew to replace the ones that  Jack severed. There seemed to be no end to them.     

As the Lizardman Chief arrived, Jack made a quick decision and shot a Mana Bullet at the Lizardman Shaman. He then speedily re-equipped his Magic Shield as the Chief's axe hurtled down towards him. He managed to block the axe at the last second; he could feel his left hand become numb from the impact.     

His right hand never stopped chopping at the vines. Fortunately, no new vines replaced the ones he severed. He saw that the Lizardman Shaman was staggering from his Magic Bullet. The Shaman had to keep its concentration to maintain the vine spell; being hit by Jack's mana bullet must have disrupted its incantation.     

Jack doubled his efforts to chop away the thickest vines, before the Lizardman Shaman regained its balance. He then used brute force to tear his legs free from the remaining vines.     

Another arrow flew and punctured near his waist. He felt the stinging pain as damage of 26 appeared above him. He was thankful that his rare Scale Armor provided a reduction of damage from range attacks.     

The Lizardman Chief's axe swung down again. Jack used both Parry and Shield to block it. The combination of the two defensive skills saved him from damage, but he was still thrown back some distance.     

The Lizardman Shaman was pointing its staff at him again. Jack immediately cast Energy Bolts and used Charge to attack the Shaman just as vines broke out from where he had been standing half a second before.     

Jack's fast Charge brought him past the Lizardman Chief and towards the Lizardman Shaman. His Charge stopped before reaching the Lizardman Shaman but brought the Shaman into Jack's melee range.     

Jack decided that the Shaman was the enemy he needed to take care of first, as its vine spell was troublesome when it restricted his movement. Jack needed his fast movement to cope with the brute force from the Lizardman Chief. He had to capitalize on this chance when the Shaman was cornered.     

The Archer's arrows didn't stop coming. One had missed as Jack was using Charge, another one hit Jack's shoulder just as his Charge ended. He ignored the arrows, entirely relying on his Scale Armor to withstand the arrow's damage while he focused on the Shaman.     

The Energy Bolts that he had fired before had scattered as they flew to the three targets. Two were blasting towards the Lizardman Chief, one flew towards the Lizardman Archer, and the final two hit the Lizardman Shaman. The two bolts disrupted the Shaman's attempt to cast another spell as Jack approached.     

Jack hit the Shaman with a couple of quick slashes and a Power Strike before the Lizardman Chief had time to close in. The Power Strike threw the Shaman towards the Lizardman Archer, blocking its attempt to shoot another arrow at Jack.     

Jack turned to face the Lizardman Chief; it had begun a rotating swing. Its body spun around at breakneck speed, with its tomahawk axe extended outward. It was so fast that Jack couldn't predict the trajectory and got hit by it without blocking. He was sent flying and took 107 damage.     

He crashed into one of the wooden huts, smashing a large hole in the wall.